Vehicle, in particular for training in the coordination of several controls

ABSTRACT

A vehicle for training in the coordination of various controls provided with at least travelling units containing skids, wheels or floats, having at least one seat, each of the travelling units being capable of being lifted or lowered for tilting about its longitudinal and/or transverse axis and at least one travelling unit being adapted to swivel about a vertical axis.

United States Patent (1 1 Schreiber [111 3,833,234 [451 Sept. 3,1974

[ VEHICLE, IN PARTICULAR FOR TRAINING IN THE COORDINATION OF SEVERAL CONTROLS [76] Inventor: Hermann Schreiber, 9545 Waengitg, Wangi, Switzerland 22 Filed: June 4,1973

21 Appl. No.: 367,010

Related US. Application Data [63] Continuation of Ser. No. 128,714, March 29, 1971,

Pat. No. 3,759,537.

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Mar. 31, 1970 Switzerland 4714/70 [52] US. Cl. 280/16, 280/21 A [51] Int. Cl B62b 13/04 [58] Field of Search 280/16, 21 R, 21 A [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,033,585 5/1962 Marston 280/16 3,123,375 3/1964 Courtney.... 280/16 3,140,099 7/1964 Feu 280/21 A 3,145,030 8/1964 Millis 280/16 Primary ExaminerRobert R. Song Attorney, Agent, or FirmBrowdy and Neimark [5 7 ABSTRACT 6 Claims, 28 Drawing Figures PATENTEDSEP 31974 Fig. 10

snmuor a Fig. 11

Fig. 23

BUOYANT FLOAT PAIENTED 3.833.234

SHEET 6 or 8 PAIENTED 31974 3,833,234

SHEET 8 (IF 8 VEHICLE, IN PARTICULAR FOR TRAINING IN THE COORDINATION OF SEVERAL CONTROLS This is a continuation of application Ser. No.

128,714, filed Mar. 29, 1971 now US. Pat. No.

The present invention concerns a vehicle, in particular for training in the coordination of several controls, which rests on at least three travelling units and which has one or several seats.

Experience in the training of aircraft pilots shows that from a relatively large number of applicants only a few can be selected as suitable. The selection is made partly on the applicants ability to coordinate several controls. Often this ability cannot be assessed until a later stage of training. It may even be absent in applicants who meet the other requirements. There are known systems, so-called simulators, which can represent the movements about the three space axes of an aircraft, but which are stationary and can hardly demonstrate the effect of such movements on the forward motion of the aircraft. The operation of such simulators is confined to indoors and is in some cases very expensive. They are therefore not suitable for use by the general public.

One of the objects of the present invention is to enable the general public to test and train the skill for controlling the movement of a vehicle about several axes, without involving expensive installations. This object is achieved hereunder in that the travelling units can be controlled singly.

The present invention is now to be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which FIG. I shows a side view of a vehicle-with skids, wherein the lateral travelling units can be lifted and lowered independently of each other;

FIG. 2 shows the vehicle according to FIG. 1 in plan;

FIG. 3 shows the skid positions of the vehicle according to FIG. I, viewed from the front;

FIG. 4 shows the vehicle chassis according to FIG. 1 in plan, with the seating surface indicated;

FIG. 5 shows a side view of the chassis according to FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 shows a side view of the front travelling unit control assembly;

FIG. 7 shows the control assembly according to FIG. 6 in plan, with the upper lug omitted;

FIG. 8 shows a side view of the front control column and the front skid bearing;

FIG. 9 shows the front skid bearing according to FIG. 8 in plan;

FIG. 10 shows a side view of a side control lever with lever bearing and rear skid bearing;

FIG. 11 shows the side control lever according to FIG. 10 in plan;

FIGS. 12 and 12a show a side view and a top view respectively of a front skid with bearing support;

FIG. 13 shows a section along line CC through a front skid according to FIG. 12;

FIGS. 14 and 14a show a side view and a top view respectively of a rear skid with bearingsupport;

FIGS. 15 and 15a show a section along line DD through the left and right rear skids respectively according to FIG. 14a;

FIG. 16 shows a longitudinal section along line AA in FIG. 14 through a rear skid portion with braking mechanism attached;

FIG. 17 shows a cross-section along line BB in FIG. 14, with bush screwed on;

FIG. 18 shows a side view of the vehicle according to FIG. I with casing fitted;

FIG. 19 shows a cross-section along line EE in FIG. 18;

FIG. 20 shows the vehicle according to FIG. 18 in plan;

FIGS. 21 and 21a show a side control lever for wheels, with brake attached, viewed from the side and the top respectively;

FIGS. 22 and 22a show a side view and a top view'respectively of a two-arm lateral travelling unit support with gearing.

FIG. 23 shows a side view of a float with bearing support suitable for use as a surface engaging member in accordance with the present invention.

On a T-shaped chassis (FIGS. 1, 2, 4, 5) of a vehicle, a seat 4 is arranged in such a manner that a longitudinal tube 2 extends in the forward direction. The seat 4 is fixed to the longitudinal tube 2 and the transverse tube 3 by three screws 10 (FIGS. 4, 5). The foremost quarter of the longitudinal tube 2 is bent upwards through about 40 degrees. A front cylindrical bearing 5 is attached to the end of the longitudinal tube 2 at right angles to the bent portion, so that its longitudinal axis, together with that of the. tube 2, defines a plane perpendicular to the chassis plane. Extending through the bearing 5 is a column 7 whose upper end is held in a bush 9 by a pin, not shown, slipped into a bore 23 (FIGS. 6 and 8). Fixed to the bush 9 is a slotted-plate 11. Below the bearing 5, the column 7 is secured by a collar 24 secured to it by a pin 25 (FIG. 8). A pin 13 (FIG. -4) is fixed to the tube 2 in such a manner that a foot lever 18 can be pivoted thereon by the holes 12 of two lugs 15 and 16 (FIG. 6). The foot lever is secured by a cotter pin, not shown, slipped into the bore 17 of the pin 13 (FIG. 5). The lugs 15 and 16 (FIG. 6) of the foot lever 18 present two further holes 14 arranged so that a pin 20 can be slipped through the holes 14 as well as through the slot 6 of the slotted plate 11. The lower end of the column 7 is tapered to match better with a front skid bearing 8.

A front skid (F IG. 12), to which a bearing support 36 having two holes 40 is bolted by four screws 37, is pivoted to the column 7 by a stud bolt 38 slipped through the holes 40 and the front skid bearing 8. The stud bolt 38 is secured by a nut 39 (FIG. 13). Two side control levers 31 (FIGS. 10 and 11) are each provided at their rear ends with a rear skid bearing 32. Cylindrical bearing 34 is soldered to each side control lever 31 by means of an intermediate collar 30 consisting'of a ring bent about two axes intersecting at right angles. After two collars 27 have been slipped over the ends of the transverse tube 3 and secured by cotter pins in the holes 26 of the collars 27 and the-transverse tube 3 (FIG. 4), the side control levers 31 are pivoted to the transverse tube 3 by means of the bearings 34. The levers 31 are secured in the axial direction of the transverse tube by two collars 28, which also are secured by cotter pins slipped through the holes'29 of the collars 28 and the transverse tube-3.

The rear skids 41 each present a bearing support 42 fixed by four screws 43. To fix the rear skids 41 to the levers 31, a stud bolt (not shown) is slipped through the holes 44 of the bearing support 42 and skid bearing 32 of the lever 31 and secured by a nut. The bearing supports 42 of the rear skids 41 cause the skids to rest on the ground with an inward tilt of about degrees (FIGS. 3, ).'The rear skids 41 each present a hole 52 (FIG. 16). Over each of these holes 52, a spring bush 47 is fixed by screws 48 (FIGS. 16, 17). Slipped over the spring bush 47 is a compression spring 49, which projects beyond the top of the spring bush 47 (FIG. 16). The projecting spring end rests against a spring plate 50 on which rests the head of a spike 51. This spike 51 is slipped into the spring bush 47, and its end extends into the hold 52 of the rear skid 41. A force P acting on the spike head is transmitted through the spring plate 50 to the compression spring 49. The hole 52 in the rear skid 41 is so arranged that the spike 51 need only move a minimum distance to the ground, despite the tilt of the skid (FIG. 17).

The vehicle operator controls the foot lever 18 with his feet. When he presses the left end of the foot lever (FIG. 7), the pin 20 moves clockwise on a circular path and entrains the slotted plate 11, sliding in the slot 6, so that the bush 9 and, with it, the column 7 turn anticlockwise, i.e., to the left. This turning movement is transmitted by the front skid bearing 8 and the stud bolt 38 to the front skid 35, which therefore swings to the left and thus imparts a transverse component to the vehicle motion. Thus, by pressure of his left foot, the vehicle operator can make the vehicle swing to the left, and by pressure of his right foot, to the right, which'corresponds to swivelling about the vertical axis of the vehicle.

Further, the operator holds with each hand the front end of a side control lever 31. When he pulls one of the levers 31 towards him, the chassis lifts on that side and the vehicle thus tilts about its longitudinal axis. This permits the operator to keep a tilted position in a bend (turn) or transverse a slope. The effort which the operator must apply for the purpose is the smaller, the higher the lever 31 is raised, or the farther back the bearing 34 is fitted, i.e., the greater the lever between bearing 34 and hand is. The maximum lift of the chassis corresponds to the distance of the bearing 34 from the skid bearing 32. To offset unevenness of the ground, for instance, the vehicle chassis can be lifted or lowered at the rear by simultaneous operation of the two side control levers 31, a movement corresponding to a tilt about the transverse axis of the vehicle.

To slow down the vehicle, the operator pushes the levers 31 downwards until they rest on the spikes 51, so that the rear of the vehicle moves down and the levers 31 impart a weight component of chassis and operator to the spikes S1. The compression spring 49 and the spring plate 50 are so dimensioned that this pressure is not yet sufficient to press the spikes 51 into the ground. But if the operator now presses the levers 31, the combined force will be sufficient to compress the spring 49 accordingly. As a result, the spike 51 is pressed through the hole 52 in the rear skid 41 into the ground.'When the operator pulls the lever 31 towards him again, the spike 51 is relieved and returned to its home position by the compression spring 49. This braking action can be applied on both sides or on one side.

Instead of having skids, the vehicle may be provided with wheels 72. As shown in FIG. 21, the braking action in this case may be applied by means of a linkage 70, a brake lever 71 and a conventional braking device such as is common on bicycles.

To reduce the effort required to lift the rear of the vehicle, gearing may be interposed, as shown in FIG. 22. In this case, the side control lever 31 is replaced with an operating lever 56. The latter is supported by a pin 57 on the chassis. The pivoted end of the lever 56 presents a toothed segment 58. A lifting arm 59, whose end is also pivoted on a pin 60 on the chassis, presents at that end a toothed segment 61 which meshes with the toothed segment 58. When the operator pulls the lever 56 towards him, the toothed segment 58 turns anticlockwise about the pin 57 (FIG. 22), and so the toothed segment 61 turns clockwise about the pin 60. As a result, the lifting arm 59 is moved downwards.

The vehicle may instead be so designed that the front travelling unit forms the twin travelling assembly while the single travelling unit forms the rear travelling unit. In this case, the front travelling units can be lifted and lowered independently or singly by side control levers, for instance, and the rear travelling unit can be swung about its vertical axis by a foot lever and cable pulls, for

instance. I

Instead of being T-shaped, the chassis may be triangular, which does not basically change the construction of the vehicle. All variants of the vehicle can be cased. FIGS. 18, 19, 20 show a simple casing of the vehicle according to FIG. 1. The casing consists of two sections. The bottom section is bolted to the longitudinal tube 2 and the transverse tube 3 (both indicated) by means of pipe collars 83. The nose of the vehicle is closed by a top casing section 81 bolted to the bottom casing section 80 by screws 82.

Instead of having skids or wheels, the vehicle may have crawler tracks or floats, for instance. The drive may be by an external force, such as gravity, traction, wind, or by a fitted motor or by muscle power. The control effort may be provided by muscle power and/or servomotors.

In conclusion, it is pointed out that such a vehicle may readily be used as a popular sports appliance, which would be in keeping with the object of early familiarizing as many people as possible with different control functions such as are common in aircraft.

The expression travelling unit can be replaced by undercarriage or alightning gear. Instead of side control, lateral control may be used. Rear Skid also means lateral skid.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes may be made without departing from the scope of the invention and the invention is not to be considered limited to what is shown in the drawings an described in the specification.

What is claimed is:

1. In a vehicle for developing a drivers coordination of variouscontrols and capable of motion about the longitudinal, transverse, and vertical axes thereof, said vehicle comprising (a) a frame including a longitudinal member and a transverse member, (b) at least three individuallycontrollable surface engaging members connected to said frame, (0) at least one seat disposed between two of said surface engaging members and fixed with respect to said frame, (d) at least one control lever means for raising and lowering at least one of said surface engaging members with respect to said frame for effecting a turning of said vehicle about at least one of said axes, (e) steering means connected to at least one of said surface engaging members for causing said surface engaging member to rotate about a vertical axis to effect a motion of said vehicle about said vertical axis when moving, the improvement wherein:

said control lever means comprises a single rigid bar having one free end constituting a hand grip and having a second free end pivotally connected at one point, directly to one of said surface engaging members, and wherein said bar is pivotally connected to said transverse frame member by means of a bearing connected to said bar at a point thereon closer to said surface engaging member end than to said hand grip end, and further wherein said bar is free to pivot all the way into contact with said surface engaging member on the surface. 2. A vehicle in accordance with claim 1 wherein said steering means comprises:

a foot lever pivotally connected to said longitudinal frame member; means connected to said foot lever for causing said surface engaging means to turn in a direction opposite to the direction of pivot of said foot pedal; and

means therein for limiting the angular range through which said surface engaging member may be turned. 3. A vehicle in accordance with claim 1, wherein said steering means comprises:

a foot lever having a lug integrally attached thereto;

surface engaging members are skids.

5. A vehicle in accordance with claim 1 wherein said surface engaging members are wheels.

6. A vehicle in accordance with claim 1 wherein said surface engaging members are floats.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 3,833,234 I Dated ptember 3, 1974 Herman SCHREIBER Inventor(s) It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

In the Abstract, item [57] of the cover page, line 2, after "least" insert --three- Column 5, line 16, delete "on" and insert therefor Signed and sealed this 15th day of Apri 1 15 75.

C. ZfifiH-TLL DAT- N RUTH C. MASON Commissioner of Patents attesting Oficer and Trademarks 3 UNI ED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Pa 3,833,234 Dated September 3, 1974 HERMANN SCHREIBER Inventor(s) It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

Column 5, line 16, delete "on" and insert therefor Signed and sealed this 4th day of March 1975 (SEAL) Attest:

- I C. MARSHALL DANN Commissioner of Patents RUTH C. MASON and Trademarks Attesting Officer FORM PC4050 (wss) IJscoMM-oc scan-P69 Q [1.5. GOVERNMENY PRINTING OFFICE 1 I", 0"356'33 

1. In a vehicle for developing a driver''s coordination of various controls and capable of motion about the longitudinal, transverse, and vertical axes thereof, said vehicle comprising (a) a frame including a longitudinal member and a transverse member, (b) at least three individually controllable surface engaging members connected to said frame, (c) at least one seat disposed between two of said surface engaging members and fixed with respect to said frame, (d) at least one control lever means for raising and lowering at least one of said surface engaging members with respect to said frame for effecting a turning of said vehicle about at least one of said axes, (e) steering means connected to at least one of said surface engaging members for causing said surface engaging member to rotate about a vertical axis to effect a motion of said vehicle about said vertical axis when moving, the improvement wherein: said control lever means comprises a single rigid bar having one free end constituting a hand grip and having a second free end pivotally connected at one point, directly to one of said surface engaging members, and wherein said bar is pivotally connected to said transverse frame member by means of a bearing connected to said bar at a point thereon closer to said surface engaging member end than to said hand grip end, and further wherein said bar is free to pivot all the way into contact with said surface engaging member on the surface.
 2. A vehicle in accordance with claim 1 wherein said steering means comprises: a foot lever pivotally connected to said longitudinal frame member; means connected to said foot lever for causing said surface engaging means to turn in a direction opposite to the direction of pivot of said foot pedal; and means therein for limiting the angular range through which said surface engaging member may be turned.
 3. A vehicle in accordance with claim 1, wherein said steering means comprises: a foot lever having a lug integrally attached thereto; a first pivot pin pivotally connecting said lug to said frame; a connecting member connected to said surface engaging means at one end and pivotally connected to said frame at the other end; a slotted plate fixedly connected to said connecting member and having a slot therein; a second pivot pin pivotally connected to said lug and slidingly connected to said slotted plate within said slot; whereby the length of angular motion of the slotted plate about said pivot point is limited by the length of said slot.
 4. A vehicle in accordance with claim 1 wherein said surface engaging members are skids.
 5. A vehicle in accordance with claim 1 wherein said surface engaging members are wheels.
 6. A vehicle in accordance with claim 1 wherein said surface engaging members are floats. 